Fad diets and restrictive meal plans are a thing of the past. All the cool kids are tracking macros and getting great results. Also know as flexible dieting or IIFYM, this may be the most effective nutrition plan ever.
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​But what the heck are macros and where do you get them? First, I'll explain the basics of macros and how to track them. Then, I'll give you the secret formula to setting your individual macro levels. Hint: it's way easier than you think.

If you're having trouble hitting your daily protein intake, I recommend supplementing with a high-quality protein powder. Whey protein isolate is the most bioavailable and digestible form of protein on the market. I don't even look at other forms of protein like blends or casein. It's the closest thing you can get to pure protein, and all whey isolates have little or no carbs and fat. Here's my top 5 list for 2016.

I love eating steak. All kinds of steak. For years I struggled with trying to get consistent results cooking steaks at home. Finally, I have a fool-proof method that achieves perfect medium rare every time. I also like shooting and editing videos, so I created the My Perfect Steak video to accompany this article.

Health professionals and fitness gurus seem to be stuck in an endless loop discussing why we have an out-of-control obesity epidemic. One side will demonize fat, while the other will say sugar is the problem. Low-carb diets trend for a while, then the wind shifts direction and the low-fat diets are en vogue again. They both work.

​Some go as far as to say calories don't matter if you eat the right foods. Well, there are no magic foods, and calories matter a lot. Most people have no clue how many calories they consume in a day. It's willful ignorance that is causing the obesity crisis. How did we get this way?

We all know somebody who is doing a juice cleanse right now. Celebrities sell them, new juice stores are opening every day, and we see people talking about cleanses all over Facebook. This trend has been around for a while now and just won't go away. I decided to dig into the nutrition facts for one of the most-popular cleanses available online. Check out what I found.

Making kefir at home is super simple and very cost effective. For just the cost of milk and about 5 minutes per day, I make my delicious kefir right in my kitchen. You can purchase commercially produced kefir at grocery stores for double the price of normal milk, but it's not the same as homemade. The commercially produced options are essentially a "kefir-like" manufactured product. The best, real kefir, is made at home. ​

My most recent fascination with diet, health, and performance has been focused on the human microbiome. Our bodies are the host for trillions of bacteria. We have a positive symbiotic relationship with all these little germs, only a tiny percentage of them have the potential to be harmful.  The discovery of antibiotics made a tremendous impact on modern medicine and protecting our health, but the medical community has now recognized that over use of these compounds is having negative consequences. 

July 5th, 2016 was my 1,234th day in a row logging everything I eat. I spent about 5 minutes that day using the Myfitnesspal app on my phone. That's it, about 5 minutes total time to log the whole day's food intake. When I first started using the app in February of 2013, it took a little more time per day to figure it all out, but the learning curve is very quick. After a couple of weeks, logging my food each day became as easy as browsing Facebook or Twitter.  ​